L'Engle's irksomely superior Murry family reassembles here for Thanksgiving dinner, about ten years after Meg and Charles Wallace braved the Wrinkle in Time to rescue their scientist father from malevolent cosmic forces. Now Mother has her Nobel prize; the mundane twins are in law and med schools, respectively; Meg is married to old friend Calvin O'Keefe and happily pregnant (but more bland and vacuous than she ever was before); Father is a confidant of the President, who calls him now simply to unload his worry about the imminent nuclear war threats of South American dictator Mad Dog Branzillo; and precocious Charles Wallace, now 15, leaves his tesseract model and goes off to his star-watching rock to see what he can do to avert disaster. There, with the wind making the decisions and the evil echthroi trying to catch him en route, Charles rides a unicorn back in time and goes "Within" a series of individual consciousnesses. Through these psychic stopovers L'Engle tells of two Welsh brothers who came here before Columbus and fought over an Indian maid, and of their descendants from Puritan times straight on down to Mrs. O'Keefe—now Meg's bitter, inarticulate mother-in-law, who has roused herself just long enough to provide Charles with a rune and charge him with the mission. The idea, according to the unicorn, is for Charles to influence a Might-Have-Been which determines whether Branzillo is descended from the good or the bad line, and thus (?!) whether he will or will not start a nuclear war—a shaky if not asinine premise on which to build an earth-tilting adventure. The Madoc-Maddok-Maddox-Mad Dog family saga grows in interest as Charles gradually figures out all the connections, but—though his mission succeeds somewhere in the 19th century—we never see him as anything but a passive, if uniquely present, onlooker. Meg's role is even more passive and less engaging, as she alternates between wringing her hands in the family kitchen and stroking a strange dog on her attic bed while fretfully following Charles Wallace's adventures in her "kything" mind.
Pub Date: July 1, 1978
ISBN: 0374373620
Page Count: 294
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1978
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In addition to the supernatural elements, Brosgol interweaves some savvy insights about the illusion of perfection and...
A deliciously creepy page-turning gem from first-time writer and illustrator Brosgol finds brooding teenager Anya trying to escape the past—both her own and the ghost haunting her.
Anya feels out of place at her preppy private school; embarrassed by her Russian heritage, she has worked hard to lose her accent and to look more like everyone else. After a particularly frustrating morning at the bus stop, Anya storms off, only to accidentally fall down a well. Down in the dark hole, she meets Emily, a ghost who claims to be a murder victim trapped down in the dank abyss for 90 years. With Emily’s help, Anya manages to escape, though once free, she learns that Emily has traveled out with her. At first, Emily seems like the perfect friend; however, once her motives become clear, Anya learns that “perfect” may only be an illusion. A moodily atmospheric spectrum of grays washes over the clean, tidy panels, setting a distinct stage before the first words appear. Brosgol’s tight storytelling invokes the chilling feeling of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline (2002), though for a decidedly older set.
In addition to the supernatural elements, Brosgol interweaves some savvy insights about the illusion of perfection and outward appearance. (Graphic supernatural fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: June 7, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59643-552-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
A fantasy with complex characterization that will build anticipation for the next entry.
Three young people find their places in a world of vengeance and destiny in National Book Award winner Tahir’s duology opener set in the multicultural world of her An Ember in the Ashes series.
Aiz, from the impoverished nation of Kegar, seeks revenge against Tiral bet-Hiwa, an air squadron commander who, as a child, murdered Aiz’s fellow orphans. Guided by a voice claiming to be Mother Div, Kegar’s first queen, Aiz escapes imprisonment after her failed assassination attempt on Tiral and embarks on a journey to free Mother Div’s trapped spirit. In the Martial Empire, Sirsha, a skilled tracker with magical abilities who’s been banished from her homeland, is saved by a stranger who hires her to hunt an unnatural killer. Quil, the crown prince of the Martial Empire, faces an invasion by the Kegari and the lingering threat of a mysterious force responsible for recent murders, including those of two of his loved ones. As the storylines converge, Sirsha and Quil cross paths, leading to revelations about the insidious force. The story explores the blurred line between good and evil and the lengths one will go to for a better life. Tahir’s deep and intricate worldbuilding requires time for readers to fully grasp. Following a slow start, the plot engages as pieces fall into place, leading up to an unexpected ending. The beautiful writing compensates for the romantic relationships, which develop quickly and somewhat inorganically.
A fantasy with complex characterization that will build anticipation for the next entry. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9780593616949
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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